Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and only four colleges outside the U.S.A. (2 of these are in Canada) are profiled in the book which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on The Princeton Review's surveys of 126,000 students attending the colleges.
Says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior VP / Publisher and author of "The Best 378 Colleges," "The National University of Ireland Maynooth offers outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our choice of schools for the book. We base our selections primarily on data we obtain in our annual institutional data surveys. We also take into account input we get from our staff, our 35-member National College Counselor Advisory Board, our personal visits to schools, and the wide range of feedback we get from our surveys of students attending these schools. It is their opinions that college applicants often value the most, particularly on (or in the absence of) campus visits. We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."
National University of Ireland Maynooth is pleased to be one of the few international universities to be included in The Princeton Review Best Colleges series, and delighted to be selected for the third year in a row! Degrees awarded by Irish Universities are internationally recognized as being of high quality. Irish universities do not have a general education requirement, which means that students begin studying their chosen major immediately. Due to this, degrees in the Arts and Humanities will be completed in three years, while Science and Engineering degrees will be completed in four years. Students registered on undergraduate degrees at Maynooth University can also apply to study abroad in their third year, in Europe, Asia, South America, or Australia. This extends your degree by one year, and you will earn a Bachelor (International) degree. The International Office offers full support to all international students during the application process and once you arrive on campus. National University of Ireland Maynooth is very popular with U.S. students studying in Ireland and the campus is known as one of the friendliest in Ireland, so you will receive a warm welcome. If you have questions about studying at Maynooth University, contact the International Office at any time.
In its profile on Maynooth University, The Princeton Review praises it for its "happy students" and quotes extensively from Maynooth University students the Company surveyed for the book. Among their comments: “The academic standard at Maynooth is impeccable.”, “Lecturers are very, very, very approachable outside of class.”, “Maynooth is a very vibrant town.”, "South campus covered in snow is like a scene from Hogwarts in Harry Potter, and then the north campus is modern.”, “There is a great mix of both city and rural students, as well as international, traditional and mature students.”
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges academically or from 1 to 378 in any category. Instead it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of top 20 colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review's survey of 126,000 students (about 333 per campus on average) attending the colleges. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their financial aid. A new ranking list in this year's edition of the book names the schools at which students gave their school's science/lab facilities the strongest ratings. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list atwww.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx
In a "Survey Says" sidebar in the book's profile on Maynooth University, The Princeton Review lists topics that Maynooth University students surveyed for the book were in most agreement about in their answers to survey questions. The list includes: “School is well run”, “Students are friendly”, “Students are happy”, “Lots of beer drinking”, and “Great off-campus food”.
"The Best 378 Colleges" is the 22nd edition of The Princeton Review's annual "Best Colleges" book. It is one of 150 Princeton Review books published by Random House in a line that also includes test-prep guides for the ACT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP exams, plus "The Complete Book of Colleges," and "Paying for College Without Going Broke."
The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com) is an education services company known for its test-prep courses, tutoring, books, and other student resources. Headquartered in Framingham, MA, the Company is not affiliated with Princeton University.